USE OF PHOTOBIOMODULATION IN THE ALVEOLAR REPAIR OF PATIENTS SUBMITTED TO DENTAL EXTRACTION AFTER RADIOTHERAPY IN THE HEAD AND NECK

• Published in: Oral surgery, oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology oral medicine, oral pathology and oral radiology, 2020-01, Vol.129 (1), p.e182-e182
• Main Authors: DE MELO, MARINA LINS MAYMONE, DA SILVA, THYAGO MORAIS VICENTE, MELO, THAYANARA SILVA, SILVA, IGOR HENRIQUE, CARVALHO, ALESSANDRA TAVARES, LEÃO, JAIR CARNEIRO, GUEIROS, LUIZ ALCINO MONTEIRO
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 2212-4403; 2212-4411
• DOI: 10.1016/j.oooo.2019.06.771

Delayed bone repair postdental extraction in patients who underwent head and neck radiation is a clinical challenge, and an adequate management is necessary to prevent osteoradionecrosis. To evaluate the effect of photobiomodulation (PBM) in the alveolar mucosal healing of patients submitted to simple dental extraction after 3+ months of head and neck radiation therapy. Forty surgical procedures were performed into 2 groups: G1 dental extraction + PBM and G2 dental extraction + sham-PBM. Both groups received antibiotic therapy and closed surgical alveoli under first intention. The primary outcome was complete mucosal coverage at 14 days, with secondary outcomes being infection, postoperative pain, and analgesic use at 7 days. G1 presented a mucosal lining in a shorter time, where 94.7% presented complete mucosal lining (P < .0001) after 14 days, NNT = 1.056 (95% confidence interval [CI] = 0.954-1.181). G1 patients also presented less postoperative pain (P = 0.005) and lower administration of analgesics (P = .005). The use of PBM has been shown to promote mucosal lining of the surgical alveolus in less time and with less postoperative pain.